Master of Business Administration- MBA Semester 4 MB0052 Strategic Management and Business Policy- 4 Credits (Book ID: B1699)

Assignment (60 Marks)

Q1. Explain the corporate strategy in different types of organization. Ans :-Integrated growth, profitability, and socioenvironmental responsibility are keywords in our corporate strategy. It is based on the performance on these three pillars that we built the 2020 Mission and Vision, transparently and with attentive eyes on what is going on in Brazil and in the world. Described in the Strategic Plan, the values are the way the Company guides its strategies, actions, and projects. They must appear in how business is carried out and reflect Petrobras way of being.

We pursue business success under a long-term perspective, contributing to economic and social development and to a healthy environment in the communities where we have operations. We seek to maximize collaboration and to seize synergies among teams, areas and units, ensuring an integrated vision of the company in our actions and decisions. We seek continuously to generate value for all stakeholders, focusing on capital discipline and on cost management. We value and acknowledge, in a differentiated manner, high-performance people and teams. We are ready for change and accept the responsibility for inspiring and creating positive change. We cultivate the overcoming of challenges and seek, relentlessly, to generate and implement innovative technological and business solutions that help Petrobras attain its strategic objectives. Our business, actions, commitments and other relationships are guided by Petrobras System's Ethical Principles. We respect life in all of its forms, expressions and situations, and seek excellence in matters that involve health, safety and the environment. We value human and cultural diversity in our relationships with people and institutions. We ensure the

Student Name: Naveen Kumar Gaur

Roll no. 521153391

principles of respect for difference, non-discrimination, and of equal opportunities. We turn people and their development into a performance differential of Petrobras. We are proud to belong to a Brazilian company that makes the difference no matter where it operates, for its history, achievements, and for its capacity to overcome challenges.

Q2. What is the role consultants play in the strategic planning and management process of a company? Is it an essential role?

Ans : Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended outcomes/results, and assess and adjust the organization's direction in response to a changing environment. It is a disciplined effort that produces fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, who it serves, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future. Effective strategic planning articulates not only where an organization is going and the actions needed to make progress, but also how it will know if it is successful. A strategic plan is a document used to communicate with the organization the organizations goals, the actions needed to achieve those goals and all of the other critical elements developed during the planning exercise. Strategic management is the comprehensive collection of ongoing activities and processes that organizations use to systematically coordinate and align resources and actions with mission, vision and strategy throughout an organization. Strategic management activities transform the static plan into a system that provides strategic performance feedback to decision making and enables the plan to evolve and grow as requirements and other circumstances change. There are many different frameworks and methodologies for strategic planning and management. While there is no absolute rules regarding the right framework, most follow a similar pattern and have common attributes. Many frameworks cycle through some variation on some very basic phases: 1) analysis or assessment, where an understanding of the current internal and external environments is developed, 2) strategy formulation, where high level strategy is developed and a basic organization level strategic plan is documented 3) strategy execution, where the high level plan is translated into more operational planning and action items, and 4) evaluation or sustainment / management phase, where ongoing refinement and evaluation of performance, culture, communications, data reporting, and other strategic management issues occurs. The Association for Strategic Planning (ASP), a U.S.-based, non-profit professional association dedicated to advancing thought and practice in strategy development and deployment, has developed a Lead-ThinkPlan-Actrubric and accompanying Body of Knowledge to capture and disseminate best practice in the field of strategic planning and management. ASP has also developed criteria for assessing strategic planning

Student Name: Naveen Kumar Gaur

Roll no. 521153391

and management frameworks against the Body of Knowledge. These criteria are used for three primary purposes: Ensure that the ASP Body of Knowledge is continuously updated to include frameworks that meet these criteria. Maintain a list of qualifying commercial and academic frameworks recommended for study and training, to prepare participants to sit for the three ASP certification examinations. Provide a resource and check list for practitioners as they refine and improve their organizations systems and for consultants as they improve their product and service offerings.

The criteria developed by the ASP are: 1. Uses a Systems Approach that starts with the end in mind. 2. Incorporate Change Management and Leadership Development to effectively transform an organization to high performance. 3. Provide Actionable Performance Information to better inform decision making. 4. Incorporate Assessment-Based Inputs of the external and internal environment, and an understanding of customers and stakeholder needs and expectations. 5. Include Strategic Initiatives to focus attention on the most important performance improvement projects. 6. Offer a Supporting Toolkit, including terminology, concepts, steps, tools, and techniques that are flexible and scalable. 7. Align Strategy and Culture, with a focus on results and the drivers of results. 8. Integrate Existing Organization Systems and Align the Organization Around Strategy. 9. Be Simple to Administer, Clear to Understand and Direct, and Deliver Practical Benefits Over the Long-Term. 10. Incorporate Learning and Feedback, to Promote Continuous Long-term Improvement.

Q3. What is strategic audit? Explain its relevance to corporate strategy and corporate governance.

Ans : Strategic audits are examinations and evaluations of strategic management processes including measuring corporate performance against the corporate strategy. Whenever a deficiency is noted or performance of an organization is sub-par, the organization may elect to perform a strategic audit. This may be done with in-house auditors, or an audit firm may be contracted to perform the audit. The auditors will audit performance of the organization against the current corporate strategy and seek to identify problems within the current strategy that may be tied or can be traced to poor performance. Upon completion of the audit, a report will be created regarding the auditing firm or groups findings and submit the report with recommended remedies to the management of the organization. The organization will then seek to implement the proposed remedies with hopes of increasing organizational performance.

Student Name: Naveen Kumar Gaur

Roll no. 521153391

Unique to Nottingham University Business School, this is the only MSc of its kind to combine two key interdependent topics - strategy and governance. This course is particularly suitable for anyone seeking a career in areas such as venture capital, management consultancy, investment banking, and financial services management. Corporate strategy is concerned with how organisations develop, grow and restructure, for example by management buy-outs. Corporate Governance is closely related to strategy, it is concerned with who controls a company, the relationship between owners and managers, who takes responsibility for decisions, and executive remuneration levels. In almost every country with an active stock market, there is increasing concern over corporate governance and pressure for reform. Measures that could be taken include improving financial disclosure and getting a better balance of power in the boardroom by separating the jobs of chair of the board and chief executive. In this programme, you will be exposed to leading experts in industry who will share insights from their own experience and help you to more effectively blend theory with practice. The course will offer interactive learning through cases, exercises, and/or the use of simulations. You will develop a deeper understanding of the various theories/frameworks that are central to the programmed. The student body is diverse and this opens up the opportunity to learning from your peers. Q4. What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)? Which are the issues involved in analysis of CSR? Name three companies with high CSR rating. Ans :-We define corporate social responsibility strategically. Corporate social responsibility encompasses not only what companies do with their profits, but also how they make them. It goes beyond philanthropy and compliance and addresses how companies manage their economic, social, and environmental impacts, as well as their relationships in all key spheres of influence: the workplace, the marketplace, the supply chain, the community, and the public policy realm. The term "corporate social responsibility" is often used interchangeably with corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, social enterprise, sustainability, sustainable development, triple-bottom line, corporate ethics, and in some cases corporate governance. Though these terms are different, they all point in the same direction: throughout the industrialized world and in many developing countries there has been a sharp escalation in the social roles corporations are expected to play. Companies are facing new demands to engage in public-private partnerships and are under growing pressure to be accountable not only to shareholders, but also to stakeholders such as employees, consumers, suppliers, local communities, policymakers, and society-at-large. Laggard firms and governments can sometimes use the existence of corporate social responsibility programs to shirk their roles. Government ultimately bears the responsibility for leveling the playing field and ensuring public welfare. In order for corporate social responsibility programs to work, government and the private sector must construct a new understanding of the balance of public and private responsibility and develop new governance and business models for creating social value.

Q5. Distinguish between core competence, distinctive competence, strategic competence and threshold competence. Use examples. Ans : Attributes of Core Competence: Core competence is fundamental, unique and inimitable strength of the firm that: (i) Provides the firm, the access to a variety of products/markets. (ii) Contributes significantly to customer benefits in the end products. (iii) Is an exclusive preserve of the firm and cannot be imitated easily by competitors.

Student Name: Naveen Kumar Gaur

Roll no. 521153391

Core competence is largely a technological competence, a competence at the root technology in particular. This is because new businesses/new products are largely the result of technology. This is especially true in todays technology-driven world, where technology is fast altering existing boundaries of businesses. The core competencies of these corporations are the outcome of their command over several overarching technologies. Corporations who enjoy a core competence in the root technology / process / expertise keep gaining lasting advantage, through new and proprietary products and fresh value enhancement. In particular, for firms playing the business game through the product route, core competence is very essential. Often, command over multiple streams of interrelated and overarching technologies, (e.g. telecomputers, fiber optics) confers a core competences to a firm in the composite area, giving rise to many unique products. Core competence is a knowledge base, which gives rise to a variety of products with widely varying product missions. Core competency Idea does not restrict the number of Businesses. The core competency concept is sometimes misunderstood as a perspective that restricts the numbers of businesses a company can be in. Firms wrongly assume that when they adopt the concept of core competence, it compels them to remain with a single business. In reality the core competence perspective helps the firm to operate a number of businesses by having one core skill. The businesses will have a linkage to the core skill. And, with two or three core skills, a firm can have a very large basket of businesses. 3M, for example, is in a multitude of businesses and has over 60,000 products. One core productsticky tapeaccounts for a large number of end products. Behind such a vast spectrum of products lie 3Ms core skills / core competencies in making substrates, coatings and adhesives and combining them in multiple ways. Distinction between Competitive Advantage and Core Competence: A competitive advantage does not necessarily imply a core competence while a core competence does imply a number of competitive advantages. A competitive advantage does not constitute a sure success formula for a firm over a long term; a core competence usually does. A core competence provides a lasting superiority to the company while a competitive advantage provides a temporary competitive superiority. And behind any lasting competitive superiority, one can always find a core competence. While a competitive advantage accrues from a functional strength in any of the manifold functions performed by a firm, a core competence does not normally accrue from functional strength. The strength has to be at the root of businesses and product; it has to be core strength like a unique capability in technology or process. A competitive advantage helps a firm in a specific and limited way; a core competence helps it in a general, far-reaching and multifaceted manner. A competitive advantage provides competitive strength to the firm in a given business or product. A core competence helps the firm to excel in a variety of businesses and products. To conclude, a core competence is fundamental and unique to a firm. A competitive advantage can be easily imitated and competitors catch up fast. Core competence is an exclusive and inimitable preserve of a firm. It is long lasting; competitors cannot easily catch up with the firm. Competitive advantages are not unique to any firm over the long term.

Q6. What is global industry? Explain with examples, international strategy, multi-domestic strategy, global strategy and transnational strategy.

Student Name: Naveen Kumar Gaur

Roll no. 521153391

Ans : A global industry A global industry can be defined as: An industry in which firms must compete in all world markets of that product in order to survive An industry in which a firms competitive advantage depends on economies of scale and economies of scope gained across markets

Global markets are international markets where products are largely standardised. Michael Porter argued that industries are either multi-domestic or global. Global industries: competition is global. The same firms compete with each other everywhere. Multi-domestic industries: firms compete in each national market independently of other national markets. In general businesses adopt a global strategy in global markets and a multi-local strategy in multi domestic markets. Global strategy Companies such as Sony and Panasonic pursue a global strategy which involves: Competing everywhere Appreciating that success demands a presence in almost every part of the world in order to compete effectively Making the product the same for each market Centralised control Taking advantage of customer needs and wants across international borders Locating their value adding activities where they can achieve the greatest competitive advantage Integrating and co-ordinating activities across borders A global strategy is effective when differences between countries are small and competition is global. It has advantages in terms of o Economies of scale Lower costs Co-ordination of activities Faster product development

However, many regret the growing standardisation across the world. Multi domestic strategy A multi-domestic strategy involves products tailored to individual countries Innovation comes from local R&D There is decentralisation of decision making with in the organisation One result of decentralisation is local sourcing Responding to local needs is desirable but there are disadvantages: for example high costs due to tailored products and duplication across countries

Student Name: Naveen Kumar Gaur

Roll no. 521153391

Student Name: Naveen Kumar Gaur

Roll no. 521153391